“I don’t see it as flattery,” Ive told an audience last year. “I see it as theft. I have to be honest. The last thing I think is ‘Oh, that is flattering…’ I think it’s theft and it’s lazy. I don’t think it’s OK at all.”

But is Ive’s accusation fair?

Business is booming for Xiaomi. It's the biggest smartphone company in China, and the third-largest in the world.

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun shows the company's smartphone sales growth.

Founder and CEO Lei Jun is largely responsible for the smartphone maker's meteoric rise. He's a charismatic figure, who introduces new products in carefully choreographed keynotes, often wearing his signature outfit -- blue jeans and a black top.

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun introduces the Mi4.

Look familiar?

It's no accident: Lei Jun has consciously modelled himself after late Apple CEO Steve Jobs after reading about him at college, according to Bloomberg.

Last year, designer John Gruber pointed out an interesting case of copycatting on his blog Daring Fireball. First, take a look at the camera on a promotional shot of Xiaomi's Mi 3 phone below.

Now look at the logo for Aperture, a photo-editing suite made by Apple. The camera in the Mi3 photo is clearly a skewed and edited version of this lens. Gruber notes that the 'Designed by Apple in California' text has even been cropped out in Xiaomi's promotional photo.

This is not the first instance where Xiaomi has been accused of ripping off images. TechCrunch cites numerous examples from the past in which Xiaomi has stolen photos from the internet for use in its promotional materials, often passing them off as photos taken using its smartphones.

And while the device isn't available in the West, reviews have suggested it may actually be superior to Apple's smartphones.

So should Apple be scared?

Apple CEO Tim Cook visits a China Mobile shop to celebrate the launch of the iPhone 5S in 2014.

Not yet. Xiaomi exec Hugo Barra says the company doesn't plan to expand to the West for a 'few years.'

Xiaomi head of international expansion Hugo Barra.

But when it does, there's reason to be worried. Almost uniquely for an Android phone, Xiaomi has a devoted fan-base to rival Apple's own. Combined with devices around half the price of Apple's, that adds up to a serious threat.

But for now, there's one final irony: Xiaomi has fallen prey to copycats itself. The company claims if it weren't for counterfeit versions of its smartphones, 'sales would be double or triple.'

Want to know what a Xiaomi keynote is like? Then read:

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